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Don’t Be Arrogant toward the Triple Jewel

No matter where we are, we
should always make offerings to the Triple Jewel, and not censure or reprimand
the Triple Jewel.

In Buddhism, the laypeople should respect the left-home
people. Laypeople should not bearrogant, look down on left-home people or criticize them. Laypeople
should make offerings to and praise left-home people and thus avoid creating
the karma of contempt. If laypeople have a haughty or contemptuous attitude,
not only will they not have any merit and virtue, but they’ll also be creating
offense karma. Due to cause and effect, such people will definitely fall into
the three evil paths. On the other hand, when receiving laypeople’s offerings
and thus acting as a field of blessings for them, we left-home people should
reflect within and contemplate whether we have been cultivating earnestly every
day. It is said,

A single grain of rice offered is as heavy as Mount Sumeru.

If one accepts the offering and doesn’t cultivate,

Then one has to repay the debt by wearing fur and horns.

Since people respect us, we must reflect within: are we
worthy of people’s respect? Though dressed like left-home people, are we the
same as laypeople? Do we have useless idle thoughts every day? Do we lose our
temper all the time? Are we jealous and obstructive? Do we hinder other
people’s cultivation? If this is the case, then we don’t deserve laypeople’s
offerings or their respect. If we still accept these, then we should feel
indebted inside.

We cultivators should heed this at all times, so that we
don’t muddleheadedly dawdle in the Way-place. It would be a huge mistake to
accept laypeople’s offerings in such a way.

Why should the laypeople make offerings to and support
left-home? Because left-home people concentrate on cultivation. They don’t have
as much idle thinking, affliction and jealousy as laypeople do. If you can be
this way, then you’ll be worthy of respect and offerings from laypeople. If you
don’t diligently cultivate and aren’t even as sincere as the laypeople, then
you don’t deserve their respect or offerings. You should understand this well.
Don’t “pass fish eyes off as pearls,” eating your meals but being idle within
Buddhism.

When making offerings to left-home people, laypeople
shouldn’t pick and choose. “This Dharma Master cultivates, so I like to make
offerings to him, thatDharma Master
doesn’t cultivate, so I won’t make offerings to him.” We should not have this
kind of improper attitude. No matter where we are, we should always make
offerings to the Triple Jewel, and not carp and pick on the Triple Jewel. If we
always look at the Triple Jewel’s faults, we are being arrogant and failing to
protect the Triple Jewel.

We shouldn’t create
offenses in the Way-place, rather we should create more merit and virtue to
offset the offenses that we committed before. First of all, we should repent.
It is said, “Once repented of, great offenses will be eradicated.” How do we
repent? We should make a clean breast of all our offenses in front of the
fourfold assembly and vow not to repeat those offenses. Then the Buddhas and
Bodhisattvas will forgive us and help us eradicate our karma, since that
offenses were not committed intentionally.

However, if we deliberately commit the same offense again,
repentance won’t help. One act will become fixed karma and in the future we
will definitely receive the retribution. We shouldn’t think that if we create
offenses during the day, we can simply pray at night to eradicate these
offenses, and keep on creating more offenses while continuously praying,
turning it into a routine. In the future, the offenses accumulated will be as
high as Mount Sumeru, so how could one avoid falling into hell this way?

In our Way-place, there are transformation bodies of Buddhas
and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions, and transformation bodies of
Pratyekabuddhas, Arhats and other sages. There are also gods and dragons of the
eightfold division. They are all here to protect the Dharma. If we constantly
find fault with other people in the Way-place, that’s equal to finding fault
with all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and sages.

If we cultivate in the Way-place on the one hand and create
karma on the other, and our cultivation is less than the offenses we create,
this is just like overdrawing a bank account. If we cannot make up the deficit,
we’ll go bankrupt. It’s said,

Good and evil are two diverging roads

You can either cultivate the good or commit offenses.

Don’t just create evil karma and neglect creating good karma in this
Way-place. We should always examine our own faults and not denounce others. If
we just harass others and obstruct them in their cultivation, then not only
will there be no benefit for us, but in the future we will also receive the
retribution. The consequences go without saying.